The Rudd Government's plans to censor the internet in an attempt to protect children from inappropriate content and extreme and violent pornography has come in for some criticism.
The plan to impose mandatory filtering on Internet Service Providers has invoked the ire of a new generation of civil libertarians who regard any such move as a threat to their freedom and even some children's welfare groups say that mandatory filters, pointedly aimed at protecting children, are ineffective and a waste of money.
Harsh opposition from the Greens, the Opposition, the internet industry, consumers and online rights groups does not appear to have halted plans for live trials of the filters, which will block "illegal" content for all Australian internet users and "inappropriate" adult content on an 'opt-in' basis, to start before Christmas.
'Save the Children', which champions children's rights around the world, believes educating children and parents is the way to empower young people to be safe internet users and says the filter scheme is "fundamentally flawed" because it fails to tackle the problem at source and would inadvertently block legitimate resources.
Save the Children says there is no evidence to suggest that children stumble across child pornography when browsing the web and suggests the money earmarked to implement the filters would be far better spent on teaching children how to use the internet safely and on law enforcement.
According to the group children are often exposed to the abusive behaviours of adults and the causes of violence against children in the community need to be prevented, rather than blocking it from people's view.
Test results released earlier this year by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found available filters frequently let through content that should be blocked, incorrectly block harmless content and slowed network speeds by up to 87%.
James McDougall, director of the National Children's and Youth Law Centre agrees with Save the Children and says mandatory filters simply would not work and children should be able to make decisions for themselves.
McDougall says concerned parents could easily install PC-based filters on their computers if they wished or request their internet providers switch on voluntary filtering.